Category: Thoughts

I like to consider myself a critical thinker. I’m quite the introvert so there’s not much else to do when avoiding contact with the world but observing its every move. I can’t really narrow these posts down to a specific category. I can, however, guarantee that everything I discuss is well thought out. I’d like a little engagement here. If you have thoughts about my writing, share them with me.

“Okay first of all, Sean, who the hell are you to talk about building a WordPress business? You have websites, guy… not a business.”

I know. Shut up.

Anyway, what kind of businesses thrive in the WordPress space is something that has been on my mind lately. It’s pretty clear to me what works long-term, what’s constantly part of the “hot or not” game, and what no one cares about at all.

I thought about something as I prepared to publish a tweet about my newfound habit of lurking around the WordPress support forums to help out.

Helping other people out is kind of my thing. All it takes is a quick browse through Build WordPress Yourself or SDavis Media to see that I don’t mind breaking things down for perfect strangers.

It’s not totally one-sided, though. I’ve learned a lot by dedicating my time to other people’s unique situations… and that’s what I just realized today. I’ve had two specific time periods where my skill level clearly jumped a level or two.

Yes, it’s true. I have approximately 46 million websites… give or take a few.

I have another one to introduce you to. It’s called “Build WordPress Yourself.” It’s 100% dedicated to building websites with WordPress. Though I talk a lot about building WordPress themes, I also speak on plugins and general WordPress usage.

One of the cool things about about this site is I’m making it an all-around resource for those who build websites with WordPress. I offer free and paid downloads as well as make recommendations for WordPress related products that I think are useful.

Personally, I think it’s an awesome idea for you to go check it out and tell me what you think about it. That’s the best idea I’ve ever come up with, actually. Do it.

Here’s the thing… my very first standalone project on WordPress was a freakin’ framework. It was born out of the idea that if I’d be customizing sites for people, it made sense to have a starting point tailored to my style of development.

So I’m very familiar with the idea of doing something once and using it repeatedly to save time and promote consistency throughout my work. And that’s what’s going on here now.

2014 is not the first theme I’ve given the EDD treatment to. I did, however, finally notice that I was doing the same work over and over again for each integration. In fact, I was copying and pasting my own code everywhere I could from theme to theme.

If you’ve been around me in the WordPress community for more than about 15 seconds, you probably know that I’m a big fan of Easy Digital Downloads, the world’s easiest way to sell digital downloads through WordPress.

You’d also know that I like to build WordPress themes. So it’s no surprise that integrating themes with Easy Digital Downloads is kind of my thing… or at least it’s beginning to be.

I recently decided to give WordPress’ Twenty Fourteen theme the EDD treatment which includes a special sidebar, a grid-style store front/archives template, and multiple page templates. I did all of this in a free child theme so it’s 100% customizable.

If you’re into free stuff, EDD, not reinventing the wheel when it comes to WordPress themes, and my work, head on over to the Github repo and grab a copy.